Rear shifting/swaying?

[nikku]

Hi everyone,

A forum newbie here. First I wanted to thank all the contributors to the forum. Your knowledge has been super helpful in my journey to an LX570.

Speaking of which I purchased a 2008 LX570 w/ 192,000 km's which would be 119,000 miles approximately. One owner vehicle with a few bruises (cracked front bumper cover, tailgate dent, underbody rust, and one small sign of panel rust).

So the previous owner had issues with AHC, and instead of dropping potentially $10k to replace/diagnose/fix the components. He opted to convert it to traditional suspension setup using LC200 OEM suspension parts. Springs, and Coils.

Long story short is that whenever I am turning into my driveway (front end first), and going over the lip (3 or so inches high) of my driveway the rear of the LX feels like it's shifting back and forth, like it's loose. The tires aren't breaking loose but the body feels like it. The front end is planted. Additional context, I've owned a truck, and SUVs in the past, but nothing like an LX or similarly a Land Cruiser so I don't have a frame of reference as to how this rig should behave. So should the rear be shifting or feel like its shifting?

Thanks in advance for your advice/guidance! Pic of the new to me rig below.

 

[turbo8]

There could be all sorts of issues.
Worn control arm bushings
Loose control arms
Blown/broken shocks
Sway bar missing/not connected

Take some pictures so we can see what the previous owner did.

Are you getting any error messages on the dashboard from the missing ahc system?

 

[nikku]

Thanks for the reply Turbo8.

No dashboard errors, he used the workaround found on youtube that I believe was initially created by a member on this forum.
The shocks have less than 5,000kms on them, so hopefully it isn't broken or blown, but that could still be an issue.

But it sounds like this ISN'T expected behaviour from the LX.

In terms of pictures are there areas of the LX I should be focusing my pictures on? Sorry bit of a newb so bare with me.

 

[turbo8]

Yes, get pictures from the back of the axle as well.

 

[nikku]

Hope these images help, and also, huge fan of your builds. Definitely very inspiring!!

 

[nikku]

Additional images

 

[terdrocket]

In the words of SpongeBob, "Oh barnacles!"

 

[indycole]

It looks like your diff breather is flopping around... probably worth finding a place to mount the end closer to the undercarriage while you're poking around down there. Obviously, not related to your problem.

I don't have much experience dealing with that amount of rust. My inclination would be to start poking around and scraping to see how much corrosion you're dealing with. There are a lot of components that need further inspection...

 

[turbo8]

Definitely check all bushings and tightness of bolts in the control arms\panhard bar and swaybar.

I see your diff breather is broken and not mounted, the brake backing plates are rusted through too.

 

[Markuson]

What happened under there?
I see a ton of rust, but wow. Can you tell us about the massive build-up of material crust? Is that rust? Almost looks like it drove through wet cement for several years. What happened there?

 

[chilibit]

Hi everyone,

A forum newbie here. First I wanted to thank all the contributors to the forum. Your knowledge has been super helpful in my journey to an LX570.

Speaking of which I purchased a 2008 LX570 w/ 192,000 km's which would be 119,000 miles approximately. One owner vehicle with a few bruises (cracked front bumper cover, tailgate dent, underbody rust, and one small sign of panel rust).

So the previous owner had issues with AHC, and instead of dropping potentially $10k to replace/diagnose/fix the components. He opted to convert it to traditional suspension setup using LC200 OEM suspension parts. Springs, and Coils.

Long story short is that whenever I am turning into my driveway (front end first), and going over the lip (3 or so inches high) of my driveway the rear of the LX feels like it's shifting back and forth, like it's loose. The tires aren't breaking loose but the body feels like it. The front end is planted. Additional context, I've owned a truck, and SUVs in the past, but nothing like an LX or similarly a Land Cruiser so I don't have a frame of reference as to how this rig should behave. So should the rear be shifting or feel like its shifting?

Thanks in advance for your advice/guidance! Pic of the new to me rig below.

View attachment 2694118

So when you turn into your driveway (does it happen both directions -- left and right) one wheel gets pitched upward by 3 inches. I would put a floor jack under the rear axle and simulate that bump up by raising the wheel and watch to see if there any unexpected movement. There might be a rub spot or something similar to clue you in. What do you feel if you get on the brakes forcefully? Also, try this using just the parking brake out of curiosity.

 

[chilibit]

What happened under there?
I see a ton of rust, but wow. Can you tell us about the massive build-up of material crust? Is that rust? Almost looks like it drove through wet cement for several years. What happened there?

I thought maybe it had been "undercoated" sometime in the past and it has failed over time.

 

[TeCKis300]

I could be wrong but this picture suggests that this may be the original AHC shock based on some minor details and level of corrosion. Is it possible they didn't replace the shock with gutting of the AHC suspension? Which could lead to your symptoms of rear sway due to inadequate (no) damping.

Can you take a picture of the top of the shock? There would be a hydraulic tube/fitting at the top that would clearly identify this as an AHC shock. It may be tough to get a picture of it.

 

[Whiskerz]

That is nasty. The brake backing plate has a rather large hole in it. I would be curious to see how serious that rust is . Panhard bar and shocks need to be looked at first. Are the tires properly inflated? Sway bar end links attached at both ends ? Look at all 4 of the rear axle arms and make sure they have serviceable bushings. Make sure they are not sitting in broken mounts based on that amount of rust.

 

[nikku]

In the words of SpongeBob, "Oh barnacles!"

hah yea, years and years of "rust proofing" from the original owner. 13 years worth.

 

[nikku]

It looks like your diff breather is flopping around... probably worth finding a place to mount the end closer to the undercarriage while you're poking around down there. Obviously, not related to your problem.

I don't have much experience dealing with that amount of rust. My inclination would be to start poking around and scraping to see how much corrosion you're dealing with. There are a lot of components that need further inspection...

Thanks for the feedback. I'll make note of the breather. Yea it is a lot of rust, and I'm trying to figure out the best approach to clear all of the crud to see what's underneath.

 

[nikku]

What happened under there?
I see a ton of rust, but wow. Can you tell us about the massive build-up of material crust? Is that rust? Almost looks like it drove through wet cement for several years. What happened there?

Years and years of rust proofing, 13 years to be exact, and there's also rust. Hard to say how much is hiding underneath.

 

[nikku]

So when you turn into your driveway (does it happen both directions -- left and right) one wheel gets pitched upward by 3 inches. I would put a floor jack under the rear axle and simulate that bump up by raising the wheel and watch to see if there any unexpected movement. There might be a rub spot or something similar to clue you in. What do you feel if you get on the brakes forcefully? Also, try this using just the parking brake out of curiosity.

When I put on the brakes forcefully short of emergency braking, it handles true, no unexpected behaviour.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

You've got a series of things that could have gone wrong or could be stacking up. Put a wrench on every bolt that holds a chassis part and see if any are loose. Every one of those should be tightened to north of 100lb-ft, any movement at all needs fixing. Check all the bushings while you're at it. If all that checks out then you've likely got an issue with shocks. Does the rear squat when you accelerate?

 

[nikku]

I could be wrong but this picture suggests that this may be the original AHC shock based on some minor details and level of corrosion. Is it possible they didn't replace the shock with gutting of the AHC suspension? Which could lead to your symptoms of rear sway due to inadequate (no) damping.

Can you take a picture of the top of the shock? There would be a hydraulic tube/fitting at the top that would clearly identify this as an AHC shock. It may be tough to get a picture of it.


View attachment 2694398

Here is a new pic. Unfortunately, this was as close as I was able to get to.